It is time for me to reflect upon my first year as a member of a high school administration team. Since I initially left the classroom at the end of the 2018-2019 school year, I have had a rather quixotic career journey. I spent the 2019-2020 school year working with curriculum and instruction at the state department level. I then spent both the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years overseeing instructional technology at the school district level. In the summer of 2021, I helped to create a secondary virtual option for students during the pandemic and oversaw the students in the virtual program for the 2021-2022 school year. I taught one to two classes each of the years I worked at the school district level as well. In the summer of 2022, I went back to the classroom for a year. This year, I moved into building administration. In addition to the constantly changing roles and focus, I started and completed a master’s degree in educational leadership during these years. These varied experiences have continually afforded me the opportunity to reassess what matters to me as an educator.
My overall feeling as I look back at the previous school year is exhaustion. A lot happened from August 10, 2023, to May 21, 2024. A lot of good things took place. Some trying and hard things happened as well. I will discuss the positive things in a moment, but first I want to address the negative. This past school year I put out figurative and literal fires, broke up fights, kept students and fans safe during situations at sporting events, and dealt with the investigations and follow-ups for those incidents. I was almost hit intentionally, inadvertently hit during an altercation cursed out by students, yelled at by parents, and threatened.
None of those negative experiences make me think my students are bad. Neither are their parents. Furthermore, the teachers and administration are not to blame for the negative situations either. My students face and deal with so much more than I could ever imagine. Their lives are messy and complicated. Sometimes this leads to bad decisions, and those bad decisions come with consequences. However, those decisions and their subsequent consequences do not define my students. They deserve the same respect and care after the decision as before. They need a safe space to learn, grow, and realize they are more than a bad decision.
I will come back to this safe space for students momentarily, but first I want to highlight some of the great experiences I had. I developed friendships with teachers, parents, and fellow administrators. I participated in a leadership academy with other leaders from my district. I led PD sessions both in my school building and at national conferences, I chaperoned both an HBCU tour and a student trip to Alabama. I dressed up in crazy outfits every chance I had. I had my face painted multiple times. I had a pie shoved in my face at an assembly. I went to a lot of sporting events and cheered on my students in their fine arts courses and events. I averaged 17,000 steps a day as I walked around the building. These events and experiences provided the fun and excitement throughout the year. Nonetheless, they are not what stands out as the most meaningful parts of the past school year as I look back on it.
The most meaningful times of the past school year were times connecting with students. I had students check out my shoe game every day. I gave away a lot of hot chips and bottles of water. I spent a considerable amount of time talking to students in my office about their decisions and their choices. I saw students grow throughout the year. Sometimes the growth was student but setbacks, but I witnessed them keep pressing forward to overcome any obstacle to their success. My overall best memory as I reflect on the previous school year is the tenacious determination my students displayed daily as they fought for better futures. My responsibility is to consistently show up to fight for their future alongside them. That is what matters most to me as an educator.
Mr. Gragg 